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Pope's schedule for his first visit to Holy Land

The Associated Press

Updated:
05/25/2014 12:20:54 AM EDT

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Pope Francis prays at the holy water as he visits the Bethany beyond the Jordan, which many believe is the traditional site of Jesus' baptism, in South Shuna, west of Amman, Jordan, Saturday, May 24, 2014. Pope Francis called on Saturday for an "urgent" end to the Syrian civil war and lamented the refugee crisis it has spawned as he opened a three-day trip to the Middle East. Francis was accompanied by King Abdullah II of Jordan, Queen Rania , Crown Prince Hussein and Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

Pope Francis is on a weekend trip to the Holy Land aimed at marking an improvement in Catholic-Orthodox relations but which will also see him navigate some of the region's most intractable conflicts, from Israeli-Palestinian tensions to the civil war in neighboring Syria.

The following is the schedule for the pope's visit:

Sunday, May 25

9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT, 2:30 a.m. EDT): Arrival ceremony at the presidential palace in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where the pope will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders.

11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT, 4:00 a.m. EDT): Holy Mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square near the site where Jesus is believed to have been born.

6:15 p.m. (1515 GMT, 11:15 a.m. EDT): Private meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and signing of a joint declaration.

7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT, 12:00 p.m. EDT): Ecumenical meeting in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher to mark the 50th anniversary of the meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I, followed by dinner with patriarchs and bishops at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

Monday, May 26

8:15 a.m. (0515 GMT, 1:15 a.m. EDT): Visit to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, at the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem's Old City followed by a visit to the Dome of the Rock. The mosque compound is built on Judaism's holiest site, where the biblical First and Second Temples are believed to have stood, and is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

9:10 a.m. (0610 GMT, 2:10 a.m. EDT): Visit to the Western Wall, the only remains of the biblical Second Temple and the holiest place where Jews can pray.

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